The Team

TDI's Unique 360˚ Consulting Approach and Team Composition:

While many consultancies focus on one speciality – research, technical assessments, or management – we have taken a different path. We field a multi-dimensional team with skills that speak to all aspects of our clients' businesses.

Assheton L. Stewart Carter, Ph.D.

Assheton Carter is a pioneering consultant on business sustainability, a social entrepreneur and a responsible investment advisor. For the last 25 years he has dedicated his career to creating value through business that benefits both shareholders and society. He spent five years in the London financial markets and 20-plus years advising companies in the resources, manufacturing and luxury industries. He structured innovative ‘green’ supply chains — including the first fully traceable gold and diamond jewellery for the world’s largest retailer — and developed the only tracking system for ‘conflict-free’ metals from the DRC used by electronics manufacturers in Europe and the United States.

Assheton's clients include Alcoa, Cartier, DeBeers, Ebay, Newmont Mining, RioTinto, Sam’s Club, Swarovski, Tiffany, Wal-Mart, and Xstrata. He holds a first class honours degree in International Business and Resource Economics from the Royal Agricultural College, UK, as well as a Ph.D from the University of Bath’s School of Business. He has published over 20 book chapters, and also chairs and serves on a number of boards and expert panels for standard-setting organisations, NGOs and private companies. Assheton is a native English speaker with fluent Spanish.

Vivien Johnston, BA (Hons), FRSA

Vivien balances commercial objectives with responsible, inclusive supply-chain strategies. She has intricate knowledge of the precious minerals sector and the rigour and benefit of implementing new standards or practices. The respect earned among her peers is borne of a dedicated career spanning 20 years; in jewellery design, manufacture, sales, marketing and supply- chain management. Vivien catalyses brand value, grounded in trust-building and positive communications around supplier engagement.

As Chairman of the Jewellery Ethics Committee UK 2007-2015, her influence extends to policy creation and implementation in both business and government. She has a successful track record with NGOs, SMEs and corporate clients in Europe, Asia, South and North America.

Vivien is the founder of Fifi Bijoux Luxury Ethical Jewellery. Established in 2006, she piloted a business model promoting positive partnerships between mining and jewellery. AwardedYoung Social Entrepreneur Future 50 2013’and ‘Professional JewellerHot 100 ‘Trailblazer’ 2012, she achieved international acclaim for brand integrity and was a finalist for Cosmopolitan magazine’s ‘Woman of the Year’and Red Magazine’s ‘Red Hot Woman of the Year’. Vivien is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Ethics Adviser to the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A).

Julija Menise, LL.M

Julija Menise has extensive onsite assessment experience conducing social and labor due diligence assessments, conflict mineral traceability assessments, CR management system and environmental management system assessments in industries ranging from industrial mining, smelting, manufacturing and retail to wood products and food and beverage.

Using her academic background in human rights law and environmental management and policy, her field experience in over 20 countries in Europe and Central Asia, and expert knowledge of standards (such as the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards, OECD Conflict Minerals Guidance) and familiarity with various certification schemes (such as SA 8000 and RJC), Julija advises clients on due diligence assessments and related assessment tools. Julija also provides guidance to clients on development of responsible sourcing programs, including supply chain mapping and risk assessments, training, supplier monitoring and capacity building and continuous improvement.

Julija has a BA in Public Law and MA in Jurisprudence from the Police Academy of Latvia and LL.M in Human Rights Law and Intellectual Property Rights from Lund University, Sweden. She is fluent in English, Russian and Latvian, and proficient in Swedish.

Emma Jane Hague, BSc

Emma has worked for ten years in the international development sector, marrying economic and community development with her interests in natural resources, indigenous rights and social enterprise. In 2008 she co-founded the Peruvian non-profit Awamaki, a grassroots initiative working with rural Quechua communities to harness natural resources and traditional skills for sustainable livelihoods through collaborative product design and vertically-integrated supply chains. As the in-country Director and Projects Coordinator for nearly five years, Emma has regional expertise in the Andean region and in 2017 completed an MRes thesis on the topic of meaningful community engagement and FPIC in the context of Andean extractive projects.

Through projects with TDI Emma has built on her field experience with mining-specific sectoral knowledge; standards comparison and analysis; CSR and due diligence strategy development and analytical research work exploring risks and opportunities associated with mineral supply chains.

Emma is a native English speaker and is proficient in Spanish.

Soledad Mills, BA (Hons), MA

Soledad Mills has spent more than a decade working at the intersection of human rights and the private sector. She has managed due diligence programs using a wide range of international standards and codes of conduct for global financial institutions, multinational corporations, and development agencies. Soledad has also implemented global compliance and supply chain programs for Fortune500 companies and has worked with socially responsible investors on shareholder engagement strategies.

She has created environmental and social management risk assessment tools for a range of sectors, including consumer products, energy and extractives, agriculture, and aid organisations. Soledad has also developed and delivered training for companies in India, China, and Latin America on anti-corruption, human rights and corporate responsibility and has conducted over 100 due diligence assessments in more than a dozen countries.

For the last five years she has applied her expertise in international human rights, standards and compliance, risk management, and stakeholder engagement to the energy sector, developing social and environmental performance metrics for a range of energy projects from oil, gas, and shale to wind, solar and hydroelectric. Soledad holds a Batchelor's degree is Asia-Pacific Business and a Master's in International Affairs and Human Rights. She is a native English speaker with fluent Spanish.

Annabel Britton BA (Hons)

As a marketer and business development manager, Annabel’s focus is on the promotion of businesses and brands with a commitment to sustainability and innovative design. She is experienced in both business and consumer marketing.​

As UK Business Development and Communications Manager for Hyder Consulting (now Arcadis), her remit covered all internal and external communications for the Environment, Transportation and Land Development sectors. Annabel was a founder member of Hyder's sustainability working group and co-developed the Hyder Heartbeat, a toolkit approach to quantifying and mitigating the social and environmental impacts of major infrastructure projects.

A specialist in live events production and thought leadership positioning, Annabel has secured many high-profile engagements and cross-media opportunities for clients. She enjoys working closely with creative communications teams to identify, refine and disseminate sustainability messaging for businesses and brands alike. ​

Annabel is responsible for external communications, contract management and press and PR.

Sebastián Perez MBA

Sebastián is a Sustainability expert and practitioner with 8+years' hands-on experience with cross-sector impact and collaboration. A specialist in mining and metals, oil & gas, infrastructure, finance and retail, his expertise focuses on international standards, sustainability strategies, Human Rights, impact assessments, stakeholder engagement, triple bottom line metrics, reporting and auditing.

He has worked with some of the largest corporate groups in Latin America, as well as grass-roots community leaders, investors, indigenous representatives and government officials. As Senior VP, Latin America, Sebastián leads our work in the region by supporting and promoting standards development and social and environmental best practices through strong stakeholder engagement activities and forging strategic partnerships throughout Latin America.

Sebastián holds both Colombian and Ecuadorian nationalities, has an MBA from the University of the Andes in Bogotá, an International Business Certificate on Corporate Social Responsibility from the Tec Monterrey Mexico and a Transforming Communities Certificate from American University in Washington DC. He majored in Government and International Relations in the Externado University of Bogotá. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

Joshua Read, BEng, ACSM

Joshua Read is a commodities expert, having practiced as a renewable energy consultant, a mining engineer and undertaking an MBA in International Agribusiness. The trio of disciplines have combine to focus on community centric development of artisanal mining districts. Fusing together technical analysis and economic modelling, Joshua pioneers business driven solutions to solve the epidemic of poor health, safety and environmental integrity that plagues many of these communities. Believing that mining can be the initial catalyst for long-term local socio-economic development, Joshua’s recent work has been to empower artisanal mines to access equitable markets and finance for safe, productive and environmentally sensitive infrastructure. In line with this, he has written and piloted market entry criteria, technical and social assessment tools, and methodology for conducting investment feasibility studies in the artisanal mining context, as well as carrying out due diligence on a number of artisanal mines in East Africa. ​

Joshua Read holds a first class Bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering from University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines.

Graham Lee MA, MMath

Graham Lee is a risk analyst, writer and project manager with a wealth of international experience. Classically trained in mathematical logic, he holds a Master's Degree in pure mathematics from Cambridge University.

Graham served as an officer in the British Army for four years, in which role he worked extensively in risk analysis and project planning, and studied conflict and international affairs at postgraduate level. He also worked for the NGO Global Witness, conducting research and advocacy on environmental, social and governance issues in natural resource supply chains worldwide.

Since 2011, Graham has worked in the consultancy sector and lived in Central Asia, East Africa and Eastern Europe, advising clients on responsible and risk-managed engagement in complex frontier economies. He has worked for a range of private sector clients, in the extractive industries and beyond, and for development organizations including the UNDP, USAID, the WWF and the Open Society Foundations.

Graham's key professional interests are the equitable use of natural resources, conflict, corruption, and risk appreciation for developed-world stakeholders and downstream users of raw materials. Graham is particularly focused on forward-looking analysis and forecasting; combining understanding of existing social, environmental and political dynamics, and governance frameworks, with macro-level societal trends, to anticipate the challenges and opportunities of the future at the same time as managing those in the present. In parallel with his work with The Dragonfly Initiative, Graham directs the research and consultancy company Agathon International Ltd.

Peter Whitbread-Abrutat, Ph.D

Peter holds a Ph.D in the re-vegetation of mine wastes from the University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines, as well as a BSc in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge. He is an environmental scientist with 25 years’ broad international experience in natural resource and sustainable development, with a focus on landscape restoration, mine closure and post-mining regeneration.

Peter worked for 12 years at the UK’s Eden Project, including during the initial development and construction phase that involved converting a derelict China clay quarry into a state-of-the-art botanical visitor attraction and environmental education charity. He managed multi-year, large grants from the UK government and has advised and trained government technical staff in Thailand, Afghanistan, Morocco, the Seychelles and South Africa.

Peter has completed many environmental audits and due diligence, environmental and social reviews, ESIAs and CSR activities to international best practice – including IFC and EBRD – on mining projects in Siberia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Chile and Cuba.